Dec 31, 2013

2013 Wrap-Up: It Was a Very Cute Year!


As we look forward to 2014 and all the wonderful things to come, let's take a look at all the amazing and fabulous things we did together in 2013. I have to say, 2013 was a very "Cute" year!

We had lots of fun accomplishments, good deeds, silly stories and milestones this year. In no particular order, here are just a few!

--Moo claimed his not-box back in May and it's still on the floor in my bedroom all these months later.

--After doing lots of kitty transports, we officially launched "Cute Transport Network" and gave our fabulous Cutehead drivers an official group name!

--Together with our partner in rescue, Good Karma Pet Rescue, we rescued, transported and helped save 210 cats total in 2013. Two hundred and ten lives saved!

--As of today, we have 638 Cutehead volunteer drivers from all over the country in our database! (Want to be one, sign up here.)

--Sweet Pea got out of the parking lot, flew to Pittsburgh and back to Florida, stayed at my house and made her case and looked cute until I finally caved in and called her mine, and then left us way too soon.

--We also said goodbye to a couple other parking lot kitties: Orange Guy and Stitch.

--Foster kitty Sebastian swooped in to cheer us all up with his adorable kitten cuteness and lovableness!

--We helped re-rescue and transport seven gorgeous cats from a hoarding situation.

--We celebrated our 2,000th post on Your Daily Cute (and my birthday!) back in April.

--Then in August, we celebrated Your Daily Cute's 5th anniversary. Five years of Cute!

--We lost an absolutely amazing cat, our boy Lestat, who was one of my favorite transport kitties ever.

--I went to the Alley Cat Allies national convention and BlogPaws pet blogging conference.

--Pimp turned 14 years old (and took the most amazing birthday pictures)!

--We had a super fantastic Santa Paws Drive. It was our 5th year doing it, and we raised nearly $8,000 in cash donations, 1,323 dog and cat toys and 106 bags of treats to help bring shelter animals holiday cheer for Christmas!

All in all, I say this was a fabulous year! Thank you to every single one of you for helping making this the Cutest year ever!

Happy New Year, Cuteheads! 

Why not subscribe to Your Daily Cute by email? Don't miss a Cute!

Dec 29, 2013

Fluffy Cat Headbutts the Camera

Gatto the cat likes to headbutt the camera.

It's almost like he's headbutting us, isn't it? I kind of want to put my forehead on the computer screen to meet him! That's our natural reaction to a cat coming at us with his head like that, right?


Why not subscribe to Your Daily Cute by email? Don't miss a Cute!

Dec 27, 2013

Cute Workout: Push-Ups With Baby Goats on Your Back!

Maybe if working out was this cute and adorable and we all had baby goats for workout buddies, we might get more excited about exercising!

I know I'd count down the minutes all day until I could get home and do some baby goat push-ups if it were me!


Why not subscribe to Your Daily Cute by email? Don't miss a Cute!

Dec 26, 2013

Happy Boxing Day! Here's Maru and More Boxes

All these years and Maru still loves his boxes just as much as ever! He also still loves a challenge, as you'll see with the first one. No box will be unconquered!

He's also a very patient big brother...


Why not subscribe to Your Daily Cute by email? Don't miss a Cute!

Dec 25, 2013

Merry Christmas from Cute, Pimp, Moo... and Sebastian!

Merry Christmas, Cuteheads! No holiday passes around here without everyone getting all dressed up for the occasion... So let's get right to it!

Pimp! Pimp! I think I hear Santa coming!
What? Where?!
Nevermind. It's just the crazy lady with the camera again...
Even foster kitten, Sebastian, got into the holiday spirit! Of course.

My first Christmas and my first Christmas costume.
Costume or not, I'm still a snuggle buddy!
Reindeer kitties like to play too!
Hope everyone has the merriest, happiest, cutest day ever!

Why not subscribe to Your Daily Cute by email? Don't miss a Cute!

Dec 24, 2013

Pimp in a Silly Santa Hat

Merry Christmas Eve, Cuteheads!

Tomorrow we'll have some more festive pictures of the boys, but here's a picture of Pimp in a crochet Santa hat to tide you over.


Why not subscribe to Your Daily Cute by email? Don't miss a Cute!

Dec 23, 2013

An Engineer's Guide to Cats 2.0 -- The New Sequel!

The original Engineer's Guide to Cats video is a cult kitty classic. And now the two engineers are back with a second video -- and even more silly science!

For instance, did you know that the phenomenon of cats "flopping" over when you put a costume on them is actually what keeps the Earth balanced? Who knew? (Pimp does his part for this, for sure.)

It's just all so silly. These guys have great imaginations... and are also clearly very smart.


Why not subscribe to Your Daily Cute by email? Don't miss a Cute!

Dec 20, 2013

Surprise... A Kitten in the House!

Surprise, Cuteheads! There's a new kitten in the house. He's not mine to keep though, I am fostering him for a woman in Virginia who is going to be his new mommy. Sebastian is one of our next transport kitties!

My name is Sebastian. Also, you've taken enough pictures lady.
I haven't ever fostered transport kitties before (have you noticed?), because I'm really only supposed to have two cats and I am so busy (imagine that!), but Sebastian came along at just the right time for his new mom, Michele C. -- and me too!

Michele lost her heart kitty, Simba, the day after we lost Pea. We've been talking online some, and she told me she wanted to look for a gray kitten that reminded her of him to help her heal. So I went looking at who was at our local shelter... and it was like it was meant to be! There was Sebastian, the last of his litter, all alone at the shelter.

I'm too handsome for the shelter!
So I sent Michele his picture Wednesday, and that was that! Yesterday morning we were at the shelter bright and early busting Sebastian out for her!

And I wasn't going to foster, but Michele and I are feeling so much of the same right now, that I decided that Sebastian could come live in Pea's room for a couple weeks while he waited for his ride.

MOMMMMMMM! I'll be home soon.
He gave me a happy reason to clean it and go through her stuff, and now there is a happy little purry, meowing, goofy kitten in there to make me smile!

Michele is a very lucky future Mommy. Sebastian is a winner! (Who likes to talk. A lot.)


TODAY IS THE LAST DAY TO 

Eeeeee! You can still get raffle tickets and donate money -- hurry on over and let's get a great last push for the shelter kitties and doggies!

Why not subscribe to Your Daily Cute by email? Don't miss a Cute!

Dec 19, 2013

The Bridge is Busy: We Lost Another Parking Lot Kitty

Yesterday we said goodbye to Orange Guy, the oldest kitty in our parking lot.

Orange Guy is an amazing story of an outside kitty. Depending on when you ask his first parking lot mom, Marsha, he is anywhere from 17 to 20 years old. She's said 17 and 20, and Kelly and I have kind of estimated maybe 15. Either way, to live that long as an outside kitty in a parking lot -- he's a legend!

We called him OG for short. I am pretty sure I started that. OG like "Original Gangster"... and I guess also for Orange Guy.

Orange Guy hanging in his bushes.
We're sad that we had to help him to the Bridge, but we are celebrating how long and wonderful of a life he had!

OG had a best friend named Westin. They had a funny little relationship. If Westin was around, OG was glued to his side or rubbing his face or walking in front of him to rub on him and blocking him from walking forward any more. If he saw Westin coming across the parking lot, he's look over, perk up and head on over to meet him. Best friends for sure.


(Mouse over that video up there and click the top left to turn the volume on if you want to hear my squeaky kitty voice talking to them.)

In all the years that I've been feeding him, I've never touched him. OG was not only the oldest of the parking lot kitty crew, but also the most feral. He's stand about a foot away from you and hiss at you while you put his food down. He was all talk though. As soon as you turned around, he be there diving into the wet food. If Westin was coming though, he'd wait for him to get there before eating. That's good manners.


In the past year or so, we've noticed OG getting thinner. He was always a thin cat, but lately he's been just scrawny. We've been keeping a close eye on him, and he's still been his regular self, showing up for meals and bugging the junk out of Westin. He could have had a few things going on (Kelly, one of his other parking lot mommies, thought possibly hyperthyroid or anemia), but none of that was really anything we could have treated in the parking lot, so we let him be OG and enjoy his life. We knew if we took him into the vet for something, he probably wasn't coming back, and we wanted him to tell us when the time was right.

After months of just being OG and us keeping an extra careful eye on him, Kelly started to notice this week that our legend was getting weaker. He wasn't really eating very much the past couple of days and he was a little slower.

Thanksgiving turkey feast in 2010!
Yesterday, when she went to give them lunch (these kitties eat three times a day!), Orange Guy told her it was time.

She told me he was lying there not really being OG, not rubbing on Westin, not really wanting to walk around and he was not looking well at all. She called me and we talked and decided it was time to do the loving thing and help him to the Bridge.

It's always a hard decision to make because, like she said, you can't take it back. But they tell you when they're ready. I really believe they do.

So Orange Guy, our original gangster, gets to spend Christmas with Sweet Pea and all the rest of the parking lot kitties we've said goodbye to over the years.

It's hard to believe, but what used to be a clan of 14 cats is down to just two now -- Westin and Crybaby. That's how it's supposed to be with TNR and proper care, but it's still just crazy to think about. So many wonderful kitties we've gotten the good fortune to love.

Fly free, OG!


P.S. I'd really like to find Westin a home now. He'll be lonely without his buddy and he's a really friendly, totally home-able kitty. He loves to be petted. I'm not sure if he wants to be picked up, but I know he'd settle into a home in no time!

Can I come live with you?

P.S. We haven't gotten Pea back yet, but I think that after I pay for her and her paw prints, there will be a little bit left over in her Pea Fund that all of you so lovingly helped out with. I will use that extra money to pay for OG.

Why not subscribe to Your Daily Cute by email? Don't miss a Cute!

Dec 18, 2013

Elf the Movie... The Pug Version

The story of Buddy the Elf, reenacted by a family of pugs.

Nailed it.


P.S. Friday is the last day to donate to Santa Paws Drive! Go go go! Lots of shelter doggies and kitties are waiting on Santa!

Why not subscribe to Your Daily Cute by email? Don't miss a Cute!

Dec 17, 2013

Two Cats Tuesday: Pimp and Moo Help with Santa Paws Drive Toys

Happy Two Cats Tuesday, Cuteheads! Last night Pimp and Moo were "helping" me inventory all the Santa Paws Drive toys that got delivered. As you can imagine, I'm not sure exactly how much help they were...

There are 16 huge boxes of toys in my dining room right now, and out of all of them, I think Moo quickly found which one had the catnip in it...

This box is MINE.
Pimp waited until he saw what was in each box, and then decided to make his move for the stinkiest one...

If I stretch my neck far enough, I might just get to the catnip candy canes...
Aren't they great helpers? Just wait until I take all the stuff out of the boxes and pile it on my living room floor to divide it up for the six shelters. They're going to go crazy with the "Quality Control" job they do.

P.S. There is still time to donate to Santa Paws Drive! The raffle and cash donations are open till Friday. Let's finish with a bang! Thanks everyone!

P.P.S. Sweet Pea helped in spirit. When the catnip candy cane box came in a couple weeks ago, she was rubbing all over the outside of it. So it got her mark of approval too!

Dec 15, 2013

How I'm Feeling Today - #peawatch

This morning I woke up with no alarm right around 6 a.m. and my first thought was, "At this time yesterday, I was with Pea, petting her for the last time and hearing her purr and meow." Right before rushing her to the ER. I hit the snooze button a couple times yesterday morning before I got out of bed. I had set my alarm for 5:30, and I wish I'd popped up then. I would have had a few more minutes with her.

But I am so thankful that we had a transport leaving early in the morning or else I would have woken up later and she would have already been gone. I wouldn't have gotten to say goodbye to her and I wouldn't have had any idea what happened.

I didn't want to get up this morning yet, and I just had this overwhelming feeling of hollowness. I stayed in bed and tried to go back to sleep, and when I did I ended having one of those dreams that just seemed so real. I was walking through some amazing house, and it was like it was mine but the rooms were gorgeous and it was huge and beautifully decorated. When I went into each room, it was like I was trying to focus harder, not believing that was my room. And I'd blink and it would become a real room in my house (like it looks now) for a moment. It was like something or someone was walking me through this gorgeous place to show me.

And maybe it sounds silly, but I just had such a peaceful feeling that it was Sweet Pea showing me that where she is now is a beautiful, wonderful place. And that there is still a piece of my place with her there. I don't even know how much I believe in any of this stuff, but I really felt better, and I slept soundly for another couple hours after.

And then when I finally woke up, I only made two bowls of food and then sat in Pea's bathroom for a while holding her little pillow and just cried. I will probably always associate the smell of the Airwick "Trimming the Tree" plug-in that I had in there with Pea. It'll always smell like her room.

A ton of times yesterday and a few times already this morning, I just like saying her name out loud, because I don't want to lose how I say it. I've said it in the car, at home, I said goodnight to her last night and good morning to her today, talking to the couch where she'd normally be meatloafed then.

It took me forever to change out of my clothes and take a shower after losing her yesterday, because her fur was on my shirt and I didn't want to wash it. It's folded on my bathroom counter still. I'm not sure how long I'll leave it there before I finally do.

I have no idea what to do with her stuff. It's not like she had a lot of stuff, but her hidey bed I bought her because I knew it would make her feel safe and the toys that I gave her that she never played with but were always there with her, the fleece bed with the towel on it still -- I don't want to move any of it.

I remembered this morning that I had bought her a pretty pink collar with a pretty pink flower on it a few weeks ago. I thought it was very "Sweet Pea" like the actual sweet pea flower. I didn't know if she'd ever let me put a collar on her, but I thought if she did, she would just look beautiful in it. It's in a basket in my kitchen.

Her Christmas stocking will stay up. With the pretty pink "P" pin that I bought to put on the white part of it.

Last night I looked at my wrist where I have a scar from her. It's a line under my paw print tattoo from a pretty good scratch that she graced me with when I was trying to put a harness on her before flying with her to Pittsburgh back in October. She did NOT want to wear that thing, and she won. She didn't, but she did leave me with a few marks to remind me never to try that stunt again. In the past couple weeks, I've been putting scar cream on it to try and fade it, because I wanted my paw tattoo to not have ugly marks around it. I'm not putting that on anymore. A mark from Pea by my paw tattoo is perfect. It's what that paw is all about, now that I think about it and it adds to it, not takes away from it like I thought before.

I've just been remembering a lot of things about Pea. I've loved her for years as my parking lot kitty before bringing her home. When I was having a sad time, I'd go to the parking lot just to hang out with her. There was a period where I can't remember what I was sad about, but what I do remember is waking up early on those weekend mornings, going to Dunkin Donuts to buy coffee and breakfast and then taking it over to the parking lot to eat it with Sweet Pea. I'd sit on one of the parking curbs and eat while she circled around me and rubbed my legs and back and arms, all the while with her tail straight up and happy like it always was. It was her that I went to be with then for comfort, even though there were other kitties there also.

I just can't believe she's gone. I guess it was better for her that it was very fast and that she was completely fine the day and night before. We were learning that she had something wrong that we couldn't fix, and I knew that eventually I would have to say goodbye. I didn't know how long she had, but I knew that I'd be caring for her whenever she would have started to get sick and show signs, and that we might have a hard time coming up eventually one day. I guess I'm glad that she didn't have to go through that. It was easier for her, but harder for me. Too soon and too fast is what I've been saying over and over again.

We didn't even get to do one official "Three Cats Thursday" after I finally admitted to myself that she was mine.

I promise not to make this a sad blog for long, but I really feel I can share these things with you all and you'll understand. And it helps me to write. So thank you all. And thank you for all the help with her bills yesterday. I can't express enough how that makes me feel. Thank you for sharing Pea Heart with me.

Here is Pea being a happy, wiggly girl on my couch not too long ago. She was so happy to be inside.


I also uploaded a couple other videos if you want to see. There's one of Moo stalking her around the house (that I use a bad word at the end, but it's so appropriate!) and another one of a live #peawatch in action.

Thanks, everyone. Tomorrow we'll go back to cute videos and happy Cute.

Why not subscribe to Your Daily Cute by email? Don't miss a Cute!

Dec 14, 2013

#Peawatch is Over - Sweet Pea is Watching Over Us Now

I can't believe I'm writing this. Sweet Pea is an angel.

She's always been an angel, of course, but now she really is one. Sweet Pea went to the Rainbow Bridge this morning.

Yesterday I had three cats, and today I have two again. I can hardly even process it. I love that round, sweet girl so much.

Pea asking to be petted. And she was. A lot. 
The one thing that brings me so much comfort and honestly makes me so happy is that I'm so glad I told her she was mine. I'm so glad she knew had someone she belonged to. I told her yesterday that I loved her, that she was mine and that she lived here. I felt silly then telling her, but I did and I kissed her and held her and I was just so happy about all of it.

Her nickname lately has been "Pea Heart" -- like sweetheart, but Pea. It fit her so well. That's pretty much all I called her.

Me and my Pea Heart. Look at the love in those eyes.
I loved coming home and seeing her little head peek out from behind the couch to see who it was. I'd go over to pet her and say hi and, most of the times, I was lucky if I got a little bit of her tail as she took off for between the couch and the coffee table. Then she'd stop, look back and I'd go to her there... and then she'd take off for her fort (under the dining room table). Then I'd walk over there and pet her. I guess it was our game.

When I'd wake up in the mornings, she'd be sitting on the couch in the living room, paws all tucked in like a sweet little meatloaf. Every time I saw that I was just so happy that she had a couch to do that on.

Pea loaf.
Sometimes when I would be sitting on the couch watching TV, she'd hop up there with me, and every single time it absolutely made my day. To go from parking lot kitty to an inside princess -- I'm so happy I could do that for her.

Sweet Pea debating whether to come up on the couch or not.
I can't count how many times I said "I don't want three cats." I want to kick myself for every single one of them. I knew I had three cats and I should have given her the comfort of knowing she was home long ago. I hope she knew it, but I should have told her sooner.

For those of you who have been following, I took Sweet Pea to the vet last week because I just wanted to check on her belly. It seemed hard to me, and I was just thinking it might be worms. Turns out, she likely had a mass on her liver. We did an ultrasound to confirm, and that's almost certainly what she had. We sent a biopsy out to be analyzed, and we were still waiting on that to see if it was malignant or benign. We'll still get the results back next week.

Pea, after deciding to get on the couch.
But Pea Heart was fine. She was not showing any symptoms. She was not sick. I did not take her to the vet for anything like this. And so I thought that, while it wasn't good news and we couldn't really do anything for her, at least we would have some time. And I would make her happy and love her and we'd just flat out have more time.

The ultrasound was Thursday, and she was fine Friday.

This morning I woke up early to leave the house and kick off a transport, and Pea was in her fort. I petted her and said good morning, and she seemed OK, but maybe a little tired. I thought maybe she'd just woken up like me.

Pea liked the sink. Like any cat, really.
Then she came out from under the table and plopped down next to it. I petted her some more and she was purring and meowing like she would, but she was definitely not herself. Just lazy and lethargic, I could tell. Then she got up and pooped some on the floor (which I thought was good - she hasn't been pooping enough).

And then she went under my desk and plopped down again. This time when I went to pet her, I just felt she was very weak and not as responsive as she should be (she'd never let me just pet her like that without taking off after a few seconds), so I picked her up and she just seemed limp in my arms.

And so I freaked out and immediately called her vet, who I luckily have his cell number.

Check out that sexy white bikini!
Meanwhile, I grabbed Pea and put her in her carrier and was ready to head out the door. We were going somewhere, whether it was the ER vet or to his clinic, this girl needed help now.

When I put her in the carrier, she was just a puddle. Head not up, just limp and hardly moving. All of this happened within 10 minutes! I can't believe how fast.

We rushed to the ER vet. I ran three red lights on way and sped like a nutcase down the road, the whole time petting her and begging her to stay with me. I honestly didn't know if we'd make it there.

My Pea Heart.
And when we did, the vet took her back and started work immediately. She said she was very critical, but we talked about getting her stable and then transferring her to our vet. Her temperature was very low, which is an indication of advance stage cancer, and the fluid in her abdomen was most likely what was causing her to be like this, because she couldn't breathe well.

I sat and waited and then she came out and asked me to come back for a minute. And my heart dropped.

She said that the little bit of stress from getting her blood and ready for the x-ray had cause her to deteriorate. She had stopped breathing on her own, so they had immediately hooked her up to a breathing machine and given her medicine to keep her heart beating. The vet asked if I wanted them to keep breathing for her.

And my heart just dropped even more. She was fine yesterday! I took the cutest pictures of her last night! How in the world could this be?!

Round Pea. She was the cutest thing. 
I called her other parking lot mommy, Kelly, and gave her the update, and then the vet came in and told me her heart had stopped now also. She was essentially gone.

I went to her before they unhooked her from the machines and called her Pea Heart and rubbed her head and told her I loved her. I always used to say to her, "Oh hai, Pea" in this silly voice, and so I said to her then, "Oh bye, Pea" and then they turned everything off.

Sweet Pea the Ear-Tipped Princess
It's not fair. She was just starting to live the good life. She was the happiest kitty, purring all the time so you could hear her across any room. She meowed every time she saw me for the first time in the day or when I got home.

And she had such a good bodyguard and constant observer in Moo with his never-ending #peawatch. Maybe he knew something we didn't. I want to hug him for that, and I will.

So now Moo's #peawatch had ended, and Pea is watching over all of us instead.

This was last night. Moo's final #peawatch.


I truly hate to ask, but Pea ran up quite a vet bill in the past week. I spend so much money on rescue kitties all the time, but I simply don't have this. I know she was my responsibility (I am her mom!), but I know everyone loved her. Even just a few dollars would help.

Losing her is already too much to deal with. I wish vet bills didn't exist. I took pictures of all her bills and put them on the fundraiser page if you want to see what we did for her. I understand it's the holidays, so pockets are tight, so if you can't give, please share Pea's story. Everyone should see how sweet Pea was.

Thank you, everyone, for sharing Sweet Pea with me and helping convince me that she was truly home with me all along.

UPDATE 5:15 p.m.: Oh my goodness. First, thank you all for the kind words. It helps. I've been a ball of tears off and on all day. Last night I was crying because of all the amazing things we've done together - Santa Paws Drive and then I counted the cats we've rescued/transported this year... 201 lives saved in 2013! And I broke down from the awesomeness of it all. And now today, this outpouring of help and love. Pea's ER and ultrasound bills are already covered, in just a few hours! Thank you. Thank you, everyone. I think Pea was all of ours a little bit. If there's extra, it will go to Pea's private cremation and little ceramic Pea paw prints for myself and her other two parking lot mommies. I don't know what we'll do with her ashes yet. Usually I like to take them back to the parking lot, but she wasn't really a parking lot kitty anymore. :)



Dec 13, 2013

I Have Three Cats

Fine.

This is my cat.
This is my cat.
...and this is my cat.
Are we all happy now? :)

P.S. All three of my cats want to remind you that today is the LAST DAY to donate toys and treats to Santa Paws Drive! Cash donations and the raffle (Have you checked that out yet? So awesome!) will stay open until December 20. Last call to donate presents to shelter kitties and doggies for Christmas!

P.P.S. I'll post on update from Pea's vet visit tomorrow. We both had a long day today and we're too pooped to post.

Why not subscribe to Your Daily Cute by email? Don't miss a Cute!

Dec 12, 2013

Very Special Brave Kitten's First Snow

Lua is a very special kitty. Her back legs don't work because of a crushing accident, but she's beautiful and brave and even getting better!

She got to experience her first snow recently. Snow is a toy! Did you know that?

Under this video is another one of her with more about her and the treatments she is getting at Vancouver Orphan Kitten Rescue. She is doing great!



P.S. We just opened up our Santa Paws Drive raffle yesterday! Tickets are only $1 each and we have almost $800 of amazing pet lover prizes you can win -- huge scratchers, awesome kitty furniture, people and pet jewelry, treats, collars and more! And all proceeds go right to the Santa Paws Drive shelters. It's a win-win!

P.P.S. Sweet Pea is getting her ultrasound today to see if she has any tumor on her liver (read about that on Tuesday's post if you missed it). I am dropping her off in the morning before work and I'll update everyone as soon as I hear something. Paws crossed for good news.

Why not subscribe to Your Daily Cute by email? Don't miss a Cute!

Dec 11, 2013

A Cat's Guide to Christmas

Attention kitties! Christmas is right around the corner... Do you know how to do Christmas correctly?

Here's a helpful guide of all the things to make sure you do to fully enjoy the holiday!


P.S. This week is the last week to donate toys and treats to Santa Paws Drive! Cash donations will stay open until December 20, but Friday is the last day to donate presents!

Why not subscribe to Your Daily Cute by email? Don't miss a Cute!

Dec 10, 2013

Three Cats Tuesday: Moo's #PeaWatch and Pea's Vet Report

Happy Three Cats Tuesday, Cuteheads! Today we have some new shenanigans and a bit of a report from Pea's trip to the vet on Saturday.

Moo has a new job around here and he takes it very seriously. He doesn't let up on his duties, ever. His new job is Pea Watch.

I'm telling you, all he does is stare at Sweet Pea. No matter where she's at, if he's in the room with her, he's got his eyes on her.

#peawatch



And now for Pea's vet update. It's not great news. I took her to the vet because she is so round (she's always been!), but her belly is kind of hard.It reminds me of kittens with worms when we get them from the shelter. So I wanted to make sure she didn't have worms and if there was anything I should be doing for her... or if she was just fat!

The vet squished up her belly and listened to everything in there with a stethoscope and declared her to be fat. No news there! I was relieved and he seemed pretty sure that was it, but he suggested he do a stomach tap since she was the to be sure there wasn't any fluids or anything in there. So, of course, I said go ahead.

He took her in the back and did, and came back with a syringe full of fluid to show me. :(

So, a couple things this could mean and none of them are great. The most likely thing is a liver tumor of some sort. Most of the other parking lot kitties have ended up with abdominal tumors or something, I guess from licking oil and grease and fertilizer and eating off the ground, so this wouldn't surprise me, but it would be super sad.

Or worst case scenario, he said fluid in the belly could also mean FIP, which would really not be good. We don't really think this is it though.

We did an x-ray to see if he could see any masses and it was hard to see because of the fluids. He did think her liver was a odd shape and didn't have clear, hard lines like it should, so that could mean a tumor, but he can't say for certain from the x-ray alone.

That squiggly shape on the bottom of her liver should really be a pretty hard, straight line, he said. Click to biggify. 
So he said he was going to talk to an ultrasound specialist, and that will be our next step. They'll have to shave her belly and do an ultrasound, and that will tell us for sure if that's what it is.

I will keep everyone posted. In the meantime, Pea is ABSOLUTELY FINE. She is not sick, there's nothing wrong with her and I had no reason to take her in other than being an overprotective and overly cautiously reluctant-to-admit-I'm-her-cat-mom mother. She's eating fine, drinking fine and acting normal. Although I do think she could poop more often. (That's not TMI, is it? Hehe.)

Please keep Sweet Pea in your thoughts and let's hope for the best possible outcome -- which is NEITHER, of course, and something we can fix.

Why not subscribe to Your Daily Cute by email? Don't miss a Cute!

Dec 9, 2013

Compilation of Scaredy Dogs Walking by Cats

Thou shalt not pass, dog!

What we have here is a bunch of big chicken doggies that are trying to work up the courage to walk past a cat. I guess we know who runs these households...


P.S. This is the LAST WEEK to donate toys and treats to Santa Paws Drive to help make shelter animals holidays merry! Please head on over if you haven't already. And if you can't spare a few dollars, no worries! Please share with your friends. That helps too!

Why not subscribe to Your Daily Cute by email? Don't miss a Cute!

Dec 7, 2013

Maru and His Little Sister, Hana!

Watch out, Maru... There's another cute cat in your house!

Maru got a little sister named Hana, and it appears that he's teaching her the ways of boxes and bags very early in life. He is good big brother.

I especially love their homemade box wall. You have to see that! What a great idea!


NOTE FROM CUTE: This week is the LAST WEEK to donate toys and treats to Santa Paws Drive! We need to get them shipped out in time for the shelter kitties and doggies to get them for Christmas. If you haven't yet, and if you can spare a few dollars, please consider donating a toy bundle or two. Thank you, Cuteheads!

P.P.S. Sweet Pea is going to the vet this morning. I just want to get her checked out to make sure she's all good (which I'm sure she is!). She has a big, round belly and I just want to make sure she doesn't have any worms or cooties or anything in there! She is meeting the vet we use for all our transport kitties, Dr. Simon in Fort Lauderdale, FL, and I'm excited that he can be her vet!

Why not subscribe to Your Daily Cute by email? Don't miss a Cute!

Dec 6, 2013

Hamster Steals Bunny's Carrot

Big bunny, little hamster. Guess who ends up with the carrot? (You cheated if you read the post's title!)

All you really have to know is that the hamster walking off with the carrot is one of the silliest things I've ever seen.


P.S. Only 8 days left to donate toys and treats to shelter animals for Christmas with Santa Paws Drive! Cash donations will stay open until December 20, but if you want to donate presents, you only have about a week left! DONATE HERE and help us make this the best Christmas for orphan kitties and doggies!

Why not subscribe to Your Daily Cute by email? Don't miss a Cute!

Dec 5, 2013

6 Signs Your Cat Loves You

Of course we all know our kitties love us, but here are six adorable signs that make it super clear.

I wonder if my kitties do that when I leave the house? It's almost sad and it makes me never want to leave again! Maybe I should set up a camera to find out what they do when I'm gone too...

Anyway, this is a very sweet video!


Can you help? Click the picture to donate!
Why not subscribe to Your Daily Cute by email? Don't miss a Cute!

Dec 4, 2013

Compilation of Tiny Puppies Learning to Howl

Little puppies, little howls.

I guess they have to grow into their big-dog voices. But they sure are giving it a good shot (with some help from their people, most of them)!


P.S. Yesterday was an awesome donation day for Santa Paws Drive, but we still have a ways to go. Our goal is $6,000 -- $1,000 for each of our shelters -- and we're just a third of the way there. We only have a few weeks left... Help us make it happen, please!

Why not subscribe to Your Daily Cute by email? Don't miss a Cute!

Dec 3, 2013

Three Cats Tuesday: Hand-Painted Ornaments of Pimp and Moo!

Happy Three Cats Tuesday, Cuteheads! Today I have something amazing to show you. We got our first Christmas presents -- hand-painted ornaments of Pimp and Moo's faces!

Our wonderful friend and super Cutehead Melanie M. had these made for us for Christmas, and I can't tell you how much I love them. They look just like the boys!

They look just like the boys!
They are painted by the owner of Safehaven Small Breed Rescue in Pennsylvania. With the money raised from them, they purchase toys, leashes and blankets and things for their dogs and to send home with them when they get adopted. She a dog named Calvin who was rescued from a puppy breeder after he was born with a heart defect. Now he's all fixed up and is the mascot of the rescue!

What a wonderful cause! You can see more of her ornaments on her Facebook page.

 a dog named Calvin who was rescued from a puppy breeder after he was born with a heart defect. Now he's all fixed up and is the mascot of the rescue!

Now back to our fabulous ornaments... They came in the cutest little boxes.

I'm keeping these boxes to store them in. So cute! 
And Moo couldn't wait to open them.

Mom! Stop taking pictures and lets open them!
Here are close-ups of each one. You can click on them to biggify the pictures.

Pimp's ornament
Moo's ornament
Melanie has helped drive more transports than I can count and even adopted a transport kitty. Remember Poppy from the Bakery Bunch? She was the momma of Pumpernickel, Wonder, Melba and Raisin. Well, when her kids all got adopted... We transported Poppy back down south to be part of Melanie's family! And she couldn't have ended up with a nicer mom.

Thank you so much, Melanie! 

Oh, and because it's "Three" Cats Tuesday, here is a picture of Sweet Pea checking out her first Christmas tree ever.

Smells like outside... Where I'm NOT anymore!
Why not subscribe to Your Daily Cute by email? Don't miss a Cute!

Dec 2, 2013

Putting On Moo's Costume: The Video

You all know how I dress the boys up for every single holiday... Well here's an inside look at how it happens. I figured it would be fun to show.

They don't mind at all. I mean, they'd rather not wear them, but the process is not hard or torture. They let their mommy put them in these silly things, we take a few pictures and it's off a couple minutes later!

Here is Moo getting dressed in this turkey costume he wore for Thanksgiving.


P.S. That's not my voice in real life... Only around cats.

P.P.S. If you haven't already, please consider donating to my Santa Paws Drive. The shelter animals thank you!

Why not subscribe to Your Daily Cute by email? Don't miss a Cute!

Nov 30, 2013

Kitten Tries to Do a Headstand... Kills Us All With Cuteness

Oscar the kitten is trying to do a headstand (I think), but just ends up being an adorable roly-poly wigglebutt instead.

His little butt just keeps flopping over his head and making him tumble around, and pretty much it looks like he just doesn't have much control over it. He's an acrobatic little ginger, isn't he?


Why not subscribe to Your Daily Cute by email? Don't miss a Cute!

Nov 28, 2013

Happy Thanksgiving and Cats in Turkey Costumes!

Happy Thanksgiving, Cuteheads! I hope everyone has a wonderful, safe, happy and healthy holiday! And happy Hanukkah for those of you who get to celebrate two holidays at once!

As usual, we celebrate the holiday around here by dressing up Pimp and Moo. (No way was I going to try this on Sweet Pea... yet.)

Gobble gobble. 
What in the world has she got us wearing this time, Pimp?
I don't know, Moo. But the beak is looking less than pimp. 
What beak?!

That last one is just an aerial view so you can see how amazing this turkey costume is. We got it last year from Nip and Bones and it is the silliest thing ever! I had to dress them up in it again for this year.

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!

P.S. Don't forget Santa Paws Drive and the shelter animals when you're doing your holiday shopping this year. It's officially Christmas after today! :)

Why not subscribe to Your Daily Cute by email? Don't miss a Cute!

Nov 27, 2013

2013 Fancy Feast Ornament Giveaway - Enter Today!

We have a special treat today, Cuteheads! Our fab friends over at Fancy Feast have unveiled this year's ornament, and we're getting a super exclusive chance to win one!

Every year for the past 25 years, Fancy Feast makes a new limited-edition ornament for the holidays. They're super collectible -- and super cute, too! This year's ornament is totally different from any of the ones in the past. It's more handcrafted and unique and extra special!

And you know what makes it even more special? 30 Cuteheads will each win a 2013 Fancy Feast ornament of their own!


The people at Fancy Feast come up with the cutest ideas (remember our tote giveaway?) and this year's ornament is no different. It has super cute illustrations of the Fancy Feast kitty and is printed on fancy paper (fancy... get it?) by a small print shop in St. Louis.

If you don't get to win one here, they've done a really great thing and made them available on their web site, Feastivities.com, for a $2.00 donation to Adopt-A-Pet.com. So you get a cute ornament, and the animals get a donation! There are also some other really cute kitty gifts there (I love the MEOW ring, hint hint!).

Check out this video to see how the Fancy Feast ornaments were made and about how they got the idea!


P.S. If you won last year and I sent you an email back then telling you, Fancy Feast apologizes. They goofed and ran out before they could send them out. You are AUTOMATICALLY getting this year's to make up for it!

And now the moment you've all been waiting for...

HOW TO ENTER

To enter to win, simply fill out the form below. We need your address so that we can ship you the ornament if you win. Sorry, this one's only open to U.S. residents. All entries must be received by Friday, November 30... so get on it! We'll announce winners on December 1st. There will be 30 winners. One entry per household please.


Why not subscribe to Your Daily Cute by email? Don't miss a Cute!

Nov 26, 2013

Three Cats Tuesday: Moo and Pea's First Encounter and Pimp is Tall

Happy Three Cats Tuesday, Cuteheads! Today we're going to update on the latest on the Sweet Pea front as well as discuss how tall Pimp is. Both equally important topics, of course.

Oh hai. I'm Pea.
First, Sweet Pea. Yes, she's still here. No, I haven't given in yet.

Second... Moo is a giant chicken and he kind of wants to meet her, but kind of isn't sure. He slowly walks up to within about four feet of her, does a little growl and then slowly backs away. He's done this more times than I can count. And Pea is just sitting or lying there the whole time, not saying or doing anything. Moo is just a big chicken (but we knew that already because he only likes his mommy).

Until last night, when something must have given him a little bit of extra courage and he actually got close to her! He snuck under the chair I was sitting on and crept over to where Pea was lying, right next to me. I thought they were going to nose-to-nose or something, but instead the little pooper scooper bit her leg! I think that's what he did anyway.

She quickly got up and ran off, and Moo just looked at me in some kind of triumph.

This is how it happened:

I like to pick on all cats whose name starts with the letter P. 
Since then it's been back to the usual routine, lightly growling from afar. Pea is super brave, though, and prances around lies near me like she owns the place.

Pimp, on the other hand, I'm pretty sure he couldn't care less about her. The first while I thought maybe he'd try to lunge at her, but lately he just kind of minds his own business and let's Moo do all the talking.

He's also very tall, as you can see from the picture I just took of him. I think he's trying to impersonate that wooden leg next to him.

I'm a little thin, but it makes my fancy features stand out. Right?
If you don't come by again before Thanksgiving, happy Thanksgiving to all of you! And happy Thanksgivikkah for all of you who get to celebrate two holidays at the same time.

But do come by on Thanksgiving if you have time... We're going to bust out the turkey costume again.

Why not subscribe to Your Daily Cute by email? Don't miss a Cute!
More cute posts